Category Archives: Events

With the grand opening festivities of Uniqlo‘s San Francisco flagship opening out of the way this weekend, I figured I could dodge the crowds and pop into the famed Japanese retailer’s first West Coast store today in Union Square to grab a few staples. Boy was I wrong.

Known for their well-cut basics (think Japanese version of Gap), I’ve never had trouble finding an assortment of trim-fitting, quality sweaters, pants, and tops– in every color of the rainbow– when shopping at Uniqlo’s New York and Asia outposts. It also happens to be a great place to find pieces cut for those with more petite frames as sizes run smaller than those of typical American retailers.

Here’s a snapshot of the insane line outside the 111 Powell Street mega-shop this afternoon that wrapped half-way around the block. I guess I’ll just have to wait until the madness dies down to stock up! (Tip: For those of you unwilling to hoof it to the brick-and-mortar location, Uniqlo.com will soon be available to US shoppers. To get notified of exactly when, pre-register on the site with your email address).

It was a truly “un-S.F.” moment. A line of stylish guests gussied up in cocktail dresses, platforms, and trim-cut suits snaked down the block as a stern bouncer dressed in all black held back impatient line-jumpers from storming their way through the glass doors–at 6:30 p.m. “One in, one out,” he barked. “No exceptions.”

It’s not every day that a San Francisco fashion event draws the special breed of stylish male shoppers who probably know the difference between a three-fold versus a four-fold silk grenadine tie or perhaps the finer points of construction of a Goodyear welt wingtip oxford.

Scenes from the Men’s Styleforum 10-year anniversary event at the W Hotel. Handmade ties by San Francisco fashion newcomer Louis Walton. All photos by Edric Itchon.

But at the premiere fashion showcase last month celebrating the 10th anniversary of Styleforum, an online fashion community for men, more than 300 dapper guests turned out at the W Hotel for bespoke suit fittings, complimentary shoe shines and an opportunity to peruse 15 local and national vendors specializing in quality menswear.

Summer and Friday Happy Hour seem to go hand in hand, and this season that ideal time of day has gotten even sweeter. For the beauty buff seeking the ultimate in efficiency—gal-pal bonding, something bubbly, and much-needed after-work pampering—Robert James Color Salonin San Francisco has launched a new “Happy Hour, Happy Hair” promo.

Despite the pending change of seasons and sunnier skies ahead, my hands and cuticles seem to be perpetually stuck with the winter blues. Rough and dry from my obsessive hand-washing habit and battered from my constant tapping on the keyboard, my dehydrated digits could use some serious TLC.

Laline’s Dead Sea Salt scrubs. All photos by Alex Akamine.

Laline’s Beauty and the Beach Summer Kick-Off event in San Francisco couldn’t have come at a better time, if only to introduce me to the boutique brand’s signature Dead Sea Salt Body Scrub—now my go-to product for soothing parched and flaky skin.

With guests decked out in fabulous sun hats, skin-baring sundresses, and candy-colored prints, the scene looked more O.C. than Silicon Valley on June 2 at Santana Row’s Fourth Annual Poolside Soiree and Fashion Shows.

More than 400 fashion followers—a few who came from as far as Seattle and Napa—descended upon San Jose’s stylish retail-residential hot spot for a balmy afternoon of bubbly, bites, and a double-header of fashion shows featuring summer’s biggest trends.

It’s likely that most San Franciscans have never experienced a fashion show where an intermission was required to mop fake blood off the runway.
But at the “Supreme Beings” avant-garde fashion event on March 1 at the SOMArtsCultural Center, that’s exactly what happened. An evening of bizarre spectacle merged with conceptual fashion, attracting about 200 curious guests.

Bubbly, bites, and limited-edition Louboutins drew San Francisco’s fashion bloggerati to the Union Square Neiman Marcus store on March 15 for the private unveiling of the celebrated French designer’s 20th anniversary capsule collection, available for sale on the Christian Louboutin online boutique and in stores exclusively at 10 Neiman Marcus locations nationwide.

All photos by Nerissa Itchon.

The invitation-only event, held in the second level women’s shoe salon, gave bloggers and select shoppers the chance to preview 20 unique styles inspired by 20 years of iconic shoe designs, which run the gamut from the pointy-toe bejeweled “Pigalove” flats to the soaring six-inch fringed “Highness Tina” boots designed in homage to diva muse Tina Turner.

Fashionably white: front row fashion show guests await the start of Snow 2012, hosted by the San Francisco Bay Area Fashion Network. All photography by Edric Itchon.

Copy as seen in the San Francisco Chronicle
Sunday, February 5, 2012

By Nerissa Pacio Itchon

Never mind the old-fashioned advice against wearing weight-adding white on camera. At the third annual Snow event, hosted by the San Francisco Bay Area Fashion Network, droves of picture-happy partygoers eagerly posing in head-to-toe white were as much a part of the entertainment as the white-themed fashion show.

Held at the unlikely venue of a SoMa auto-repair garage that was transformed into an industrial-chic catwalk Jan. 28, the evening drew about 250 guests dressed in everything from slinky gowns and feathered spectator hats to cheeky flight suits and fur chubbies.